SOME of Europe's biggest banks are on the brink for a crisis that echoes the 2008 meltdown, a finance expert warned, as fears over the global economy escalate.

Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse, Santander, Barclays and RBS are among the stocks that are falling sharply sending shockwaves through the financial world, according to former hedge fund manager and ex Goldman Sachs employee Raoul Pal.

At the height of the financial disaster in 2008, the Government was forced to step in and rescue Lloyds Banks and RBS from liquidation, while the European Central Bank gave huge bailouts to Spain, Greece, Portugal and Italy.

Last month, the head of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi raised expectations that it could undergo yet more Quantitative Easing in March - in effect printing billions of pounds worth of money - in the face of ongoing economic fears.

France last month declared a state of economic crisis adding to worries about the stability of the eurozone.

Regulations now require banks in Europe to hold more cash as a buffer against market shocks, but Mr Pal said balance sheets haven't been cleaned up and warned negative interest rates are hitting the firms hard.